The witch of the commonwealth
by Lunar railway
Summary: I do not own Strike witches or Fallout 4. Fallout is owned by Bethesda and Strike witches is created by Humikane Shimada. Gertrud Barkhorn finds herself in a dimension not destroyed by the Neuroi but by humanity itself, and with the help of a few of its inhabitants tries to find her way home. However neither dimension knows just how connected they've become.
1. Prologue

The witch of the commonwealth. Prologue.

Dimensional impact.

Thomas Glasswell groaned as his alarm clock rang. After several more seconds of horrible ringing he finally managed to hit the snooze button. He sat up and yawned and noted the time was 8:30 am. After several minutes of having an internal debate, on whether to stay in bed or go get ready for the morning the latter won out.

He climbed out of bed with no small amount of groaning and grabbed his glasses off an end table near his bed. His glasses were square lensed and colored dark red. He was near sighted and couldn't see much at all without them.

After grabbing a change of clothes from his dresser he entered the bathroom and took a quick shower, normally he would take a long one but he just didn't feel like it for some reason. After exiting the shower, he got dressed in a pair of sneakers, blue jeans, and a white t shirt.

He stopped in front of the mirror to look at his hair. It was dark brown and somewhat long, he'd probably need a hair cut in the future. His hair looked like a rats next, he quickly grabbed a brush and fixed it. Normally he didn't care much about his appearance he didn't like going outside much but his family was pushing him to be more active.

He did need a job, he was nineteen and unemployed and was very much considering going into robotics, a field that interested him greatly he wanted to be involved in either design or manufacturing.

His father and brother both thought he should join the military, his father was a veteran and his brother was a pilot, he flew one of those military helicopters, vertibirds, that was what they were called.

With America's war with China raging on his brother and father both thought he should sign up and serve his country, but Thomas could be honest with himself, he was a coward.

He always avoided conflict both verbal and physical, he'd been bullied through school and he simply took it despite his father and brother telling him to fight back. Thomas was too much of a coward to join his nation's military.

He loved America with every fiber of his being. He was proud of his country, when it annexed Canada in 2072 he was proud, when in 2074 America deployed its military to China and began to cut a swathe of destruction through it he was proud.

He felt ever more pride when in January 2077 it was declared that Alaska was reclaimed and the last communist forces were pushed out, they'd been defiling American soil since their invasion of the state in 2066.

Thomas walked into the kitchen and took note of the date on the calendar. October 23 2077. He noted the time was 9:30 am, he also noticed a note attached to the fridge.

 **Thomas, went out to breakfast with the ladies, should be back around 11:00 am. Ps, your father and brother went hiking, I have no idea when they'll be back. Love Mother. Oh and no girls over.**

Thomas rolled his eyes, his mother knew full well he had no girlfriend in fact he didn't even know any girls, she just enjoyed teasing him, like the rest of his family.

He grabbed a bowl out of the clean side of the sink and then opened the pantry and grabbed a box of sugar bombs breakfast cereal. He quickly poured it into the bowl and then poured cold milk over that, he grabbed a spoon out of a drawer and then walked over to the TV and turned it on.

Almost as soon as he turned it on there was a mixture of anti-communist propaganda, a commercial asking people to buy war bonds and a recruitment video trying to get more people to join the military.

Thomas's thoughts drifted back to the state of the world. There was an energy shortage with oil being one of the most needed resources it was why China had invaded America in the first place back in 2066. In 2072 America declared the last supply of oil would be used only by it something Thomas was proud of.

America was the most powerful country in the world, it would only be a matter of time until they defeated China and annexed it into the U.S. Then America would probably deploy its military to Europe.

Back before Thomas was born the European commonwealth had invaded the Middle east because it had massively increased its oil prices. The United nations had done its best to keep the peace but its members began to abandon it and it eventually collapsed in 2052.

In 2066 the European Middle eastern war ended with the oil there all dried up, both sides were reduced to almost ruin, the minor nuclear exchange they launched against one another didn't help either. The European commonwealth dissolved into nation sates that began to fight each other for what little resources remained.

Thomas assumed once china was finished off the united states would deploy to Europe and put an end to the fighting and attempt to stabilize the region, and then probably annex it, the same with the Middle east too.

That would leave the only major threat to the United states as the Soviet Union, though Thomas doubted it would end up as war, they were on relatively good terms.

Still… America wouldn't come out without scars. Power armored units had been deployed to stop the riots going on and to help enforce the quarantine. There were food shortages across the country, as well as protests and riots about the war and energy shortages, to make matters worse some kind of plague was spreading around the country too. As a result, a lot of civilians had died, there were even soldiers defecting. Thomas knew he and his family were lucky just to have food to eat and electricity to use.

America was struggling as it never had before, but like in the civil war, world war one, and world war two it would emerge stronger than ever. Thomas glanced at the TV for a moment and noticed a news report was now on it, that was odd there was no news programs on this channel, did they interrupt it?

The reporter seemed in a stupor. "I, hold on we seemed to have lost contact with our affiliate station, one moment please." What could this be about? Thomas listened intently. The news reporter face seemed to change into shock.

"I… I… We have r… reports of nuclear detonations in New York and Pennsylvania. Oh my god…" "No…" Thomas muttered. That couldn't be possible… Nukes? China couldn't be that stupid… There was no way they'd use nukes they would be wiped out along with America…

The sound of a siren brought Thomas out of his thoughts, he ran to and then threw the front door open, outside was chaos. People were running and trying to stuff suitcases into their cars trunks. Thomas heard the sound or rotors, over head a vertibird flew a voice was soon broadcast from it.

"Residents of sanctuary hills, if you are registered, evacuate to Vault 111!" That's right the vault! Thomas's family was registered due his father's service in the military. Thomas and several others began to run for the vault which was up a hill about a two or three minute walk from sanctuary hills.

Thomas continued to run and stopped for just a moment as a man in a yellow trench coat ran down the hill yelling something about reporting this. Thomas continued to run and after a couple of seconds he arrived at a chain link fence gate.

Several people stood outside it while three soldiers stood behind it, one in a standard uniform holding a clipboard, the two behind him however wore massive suits of power armor, one carried a massive minigun while the other carried a laser rifle.

People were shouting to be let in while the officer told them only those registered would be allowed in. Thomas had to shove and push his way through the crowd but eventually made it to the officer.

"Hey! My name is Thomas Glasswell, my family is registered!" The officer scanned his clipboard for a moment before looking back up. "Alright go in, hurry!" Thomas moved past the soldiers and to the top of the hill.

Vault tech security personal were directing people. One of them noticed Thomas. "Hey! Get on the platform!" Thomas saw a group of people standing on the platform it was an odd circular gear shaped metal platform.

Thomas moved to the platform and saw a few neighbors standing on it, he then heard a baby cry. Thomas knew that cry, that same baby had spit up on him more than once when he was babysitting it. "Shaun?" Thomas asked. This caused the babies parents to turn around.

"Thomas!" It was Mr. and Mrs. Trinity. Nora Trinity and Lance Trinity, along with their infant son Shaun Trinity. Lance, like Thomas's father was a veteran it was how their family's knew each other.

"Where's the rest of my family?!" Thomas asked. "I don't know, I'm sure they're safe don't worry!" Lance said. "Is there really a nuclear attack?" Thomas asked.

Fate decided to answer that question, in the distance a nuclear explosion bloomed into existence, the blast wave kicked up everything it hit as it spread out. "Oh god send it down now!" He heard someone yell, presumably one of the vault tech personal.

The platform began to descend into the ground and Thomas took one last look behind him, even with all the dirt kicked up he could make out the form of the vertibird, which must have landed at some point. Then the elevator descended deeper into the ground and above them a large metal door closed.

Several people nervously spoke to themselves as the elevator completed its descent, Thomas didn't know many of them though he could see a few neighbors here and there. After the elevator finished descending a metal gate in front of it ascended.

Standing in front of everyone were two people, both wearing odd looking jumpsuits. The jumpsuits were dark blue with a gold yellow color around the collar and a large stripe of yellow going down from the collar, there appeared to be possibly leather cuffs at the beginning of the sleeves and they all seemed to be worn with brown shoes.

One of the men standing there had a vest of some kind over his jumpsuit, bullet proof maybe? Before long the unvested man began to speak. "People, it's going to be alright. Please calmly and in an orderly fashion proceed up the stairs."

Slowly people began to move up the stairs though a few stopped to question the man who only told them they were safe now. Before long Thomas, Lance, Nora and Shaun found themselves walking down a catwalk, eventually they arrived at an odd device that they all had to stop at.

"This one's clean." A man said as Thomas stepped through. Clean? Was it scanning for radiation? Afterwards they all stepped forward to a table where a woman was handing out those jumpsuits which were apparently called vaultsuits.

Thomas took his from the woman and looked it over, it had a large 111 on the back in yellow lettering the fabric felt soft as well. A man in a lab coat smiled at them. "Okay you four please follow me." He said addressing Lance, Thomas, Nora and Shaun.

After a few minutes of walking through the hallway and the scientist explaining a bit about how this vault was one of their most advanced facilities they arrived in a large room with metal pods.

The pods were square shaped with large doors above them that were currently open, nearby each pod was a control panel with several gauges and a large red lever on it.

"Alright." The scientist said with a smile. "Please put on your vaultsuits then step inside the pods, they'll decontaminate and depressurize you." Thomas looked around at everyone else who were already undressing.

He felt horribly embarrassed to be undressing in front of others, he wouldn't even do it in front of his family, but here he had no choice. Slowly he pulled his sneakers off, then his jeans and shirt, he quickly after figuring out how, slipped the suit on. It felt soft and warm but Thomas still felt exposed in it like everyone could see everything.

"Comfy aren't they?" The scientist said with a smile. "Now please step inside the pods." Thomas watched Lance step into his pod and then Nora step into hers while holding Shaun. Thomas slowly entered his own pod and slowly the door closed down from above.

This isn't so bad, Thomas thought. "Resident secure." "What the?" Thomas mumbled at hearing the slightly female sounding voice. Must be the vault's computer he decided. "Occupant vitals normal." "For now." Thomas mumbled. "Procedure complete, in, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1."

Suddenly Thomas felt odd, tired and cold. "What's… happening…?" Thomas barely finished the sentence as the cyro pod froze him inside it, the other pods doing the same to their occupants.

While America, China, the Soviet Union and the rest of the world burned in radioactive fire, elsewhere in what could likely only be called another dimension an aerial battle was taking place.

* * *

Magic and heavy firepower clashed with regenerating armor and lasers, Gertrud Barkhorn and Erica Hartmann both flew toward the right attempting to get around one of the three Neuroi the 501st Joint fighter wing had engaged.

Earlier the 501st had been alerted to a wing of three large type Neuroi moving at high speeds. They weren't sure what the three Neuroi were up to and had quickly scrambled to intercept them. Upon engaging the Neuroi two of them had split themselves into several drones while the third had flown up into the clouds and was using them for cover while every once in a while firing through them.

Gertrud leveled her two MG-42s and opened fire cutting through several drones, a second later her wingman Erica hit the main Neuroi's core causing it as well as the remaining drones under its control to disintegrate into white glimmering shards.

Erica was forced to bring up her shield to block a laser from the clouds, the Neuroi in the clouds was proving to be a dangerous pest, as its lasers were hard to see until they burst through the clouds, and so far they hadn't been able to destroy it because every time they got close they'd be swarmed by the drones.

"Focus on the one controlling the drones, then we'll deal with the one in the clouds!" The 501st's wing commander, Minna Dietlinde Wilcke ordered. It didn't take long to destroy the final one controlling the drones, the witches' focused fire ensured that.

Gertrud and Erica began to hover. "Let's get the last one already, I want to go take a nap." Erica said with a yawn, before Gertrud could correct her on proper military discipline in a combat zone the final Neuroi decided to make its move.

It burst through the clouds directly above the two Karlsland witches, and quickly fired a laser from one of the red patches of its black hexagonal armor. Gertrud was forced to bring up her shield to block the laser. The Neuroi fired again and again as it dove, even as fire from the other witches penetrated its armor, though by some luck not its core.

Gertrud lowered her shield after blocking yet another laser fired by it, then she noticed something. The Neuroi was heading right for her, and quite quickly too. "Trude move!" Erica yelled. However, a laser from the cloud sniper forced Gertrud to bring up her shield, she kept her arms outstretched above her head to block the laser, this also prevented her from moving for a second or two.

And in those seconds the Neuroi stuck her shield, the large type Neuroi, bigger than any conventional aircraft struck her shield at high speeds. Under normal circumstances the shield would've shattered and Gertrud would've been killed instantly from the impact, however this didn't happen.

Instead a highly audible sound that almost sounded like glass shattering filled the witches' ears. A large cloud of smoke had seemingly appeared from nowhere and slowly began to dissipate revealing nothing, no Gertrud no, Neuroi, nothing. "T Trude?" Erica called out as the rest of the 501st came to a hover next to her.

* * *

 **Authors note.**

 **Well here we go again I'm posting another story, this one has been bouncing around in my head for awhile now. I'll be honest I've never read or watched Strike witches but have seen videos and read some very good fanfictions, which is where this idea came from. I've done my best to get the characters right so I hope its all correct.**

 **Also I know the main character looks a lot like the one in my other story but I just like that appearance and its also one of the most common, but don't worry they aren't the exact same though they do share a few things in common.**

 **Anyways, feel free to leave a review and thanks for reading!**


	2. Chapter 1

The witch of the commonwealth. Chapter 1. A new world, a different world.

* * *

Thomas's eyes shot open and it took him a moment to remember he was trapped in a large metal pod. "Get me out of here!" He yelled though he wasn't sure if his voice could get through the pods closed door.

He stared at the man in the pod directly in front of his, he didn't appear to be moving, why wasn't he moving? Thomas attempted to bang on the glass window of the pod but his arm moved slowly and sluggishly, it didn't even feel like he was moving it.

Suddenly the Vault's computer spoke in its robotic but female sounding voice. "Critical failure in cryogenic array, all vault residents must vacate immediately." Directly after it finished the sentence the cyro pod's door opened.

Thomas meant to step out of the pod, key word meant. He nearly went face first into the floor just barely using his hands to take the brunt of the impact. And then came the coughing, for some reason the first breath he took outside of the pod didn't seem to agree with his lungs and he quickly fell into a coughing fit.

After what felt like a solid minute of coughing he managed to stand up, he quickly ran to the pod that sat front of his and stared into the glass window. The man inside still wasn't moving. Thomas quickly grabbed the red lever attached to the nearby control panel, he attempted to pull it down only for the lever to not budge an inch. "Warning failure in manual override." The computer said. Thomas took a step back, he needed to think fast if he was going to save that guy.

He turned around and noticed one of the other pods was open, so where was its resident? He quickly moved to it and noted it was the same pod Lance Trinity had entered, then that meant Nora's would be in front of it.

He turned and saw something odd, Nora was still in her pod and not moving. Thomas grabbed the lever and to his surprise this one moved, with a hiss the pod's door ascended. "Hey miss Nora!" Thomas reached forward and put a hand on her shoulder to shake her.

He continued to shake her but she wasn't responsive. "Nora!" He yelled, then noticed something, there was a large bullet hole in her shoulder. Thomas scrambled backwards now scared out of his mind.

He then noticed something else, where was Shaun? Did Lance take him? But then why was Nora… Dead? What the hell was going on!? He thought to himself.

He quickly ran out of the room intent on finding some help but along the way he noticed something strange. The vault had looked state of the art before, now it looked rusted and old, a loud alarm was blaring too, he could also hear the vault's computer's voice saying something over the PA system and he could see something leaking from the ceiling. He was so distracted that he ran into a toolbox sitting on a metal crate and knocked it off.

With a loud bang the toolbox hit the ground and tools spilled everywhere, Thomas quickly grabbed an adjustable wrench and turned around and reentered the room with the pods. He stopped at the pod in front of his and wrapped both his hands tightly around the wrench.

Then he swung it intending to break the glass window, he didn't even dent it. He swung again and again with the same result. "Come on!" He yelled as he gave it one last swing with again no difference in results.

He was breathing heavily now as he stared at the unmoving man in the pod. He looked at the others. No one else was moving either, or breathing, they were all dead.

"What the hell is going on!" Thomas yelled. Then he had an idea, he could get out of the vault and find help, yeah that was it, the police would have vault tech's head for this atrocity!

He quickly ran into the hallway and continued to run, having to stop at one point and go around into another hallway to move past a broken door, and that's when he saw it. Standing there was, well a cat sized cockroach, it was a dark yellow brown color. It was also eating another dead cat sized cockroach too.

"Ugh…" He muttered aloud. He disliked most bugs, generally those with stingers though he also disliked cockroaches, ants and beetles. Though this was by far the most disgusting thing he'd ever seen.

His earlier grown apparently managed to get radroach's attention. It stopped and looked up at Thomas then its wings fluttered a bit, it quickly skittered over the dead roach it had been eating and headed straight for Thomas. He stepped backwards trying to decide if he should run from the monstrous roach but figured it would probably just follow him.

He raised the wrench and waited for it to get close, when it did he swung it down as hard as he could hitting its thorax with a loud crunch, he pulled the wrench back and saw the head of the wrench was now covered in greenish yellow liquid. He looked down at the roach which wasn't moving thankfully.

"What the hell was that?" Thomas mumbled. He was just glad he managed to kill it before it did whatever it was going to do. He didn't even want to think about what kind of infection a bite from that thing would cause.

Thomas continued to move through the vault and came across a few skeletons some clad in lab coats like that one scientist who led them to those pods was wearing. A worrying thought struck Thomas. In order for there to be skeletons they would have to be dead for quite a while even more so in a sealed vault like vault 111. Thomas's foot suddenly struck an object and sent it skidding into the wall he moved over to the wall to see what it was.

It was a Pipboy, Thomas noticed. A Pipboy was a device issued to vaults, a wrist mounted computer. Thomas bent down and looked it over, it looked like a dark yellowish brown colored arm band it was also fairly large covering a large amount of the forearm.

Thomas wiped some dust off the screen and turned it around and noticed there was a latch mechanism on its back, he unlatched it then put it on his left forearm and latched it. He was right handed so it just felt better to have it on his left arm. He put his right hand on it and attempted to move it down his arm, he was pleased when it didn't slide down his arm.

It took him a moment but he managed to turn it on, and after it showed its system information, Thomas tested it out by looking through its different uses. It could monitor its wearers health, tune into radio stations, keep an inventory, play holodisks, record written information and download information from terminals. It could also act as a flashlight and even had a Geiger counter and a motion tracker.

Thomas also noticed a plug on the underside of the device though what it could do he had no idea. After another minute of fiddling with the device he found the settings including the color for it, he quickly adjusted the color from green to his favorite color red.

Well, now he had a wrist mounted computer, it was the least Vault tech could do for lying to him he figured. Thomas continued onward at one point coming across what looked like an armory but it was sadly empty, still he had an idea where he could get a gun if he could just get out of here.

After a few more minutes of walking he arrived at the elevator, which had ascended… So someone else, probably Mr. Trinity had left. Thomas stepped up to a large control panel he noticed a slot on it that looked like it might've matched the plug on the Pipboy though it must've been used already as the tiny glass door covering a red button was already open.

Thomas hit the button and a few seconds later the massive platform descended, hesitantly Thomas stepped on it slightly worried it might fail halfway up, without any input from Thomas the elevator began to ascend, the entire time Thomas worried it would stop or get stuck but it didn't.

Thomas looked up as the massive metal doors opened up revealing a star filled sky, it was night. "God…" He muttered looking around. The area around the platform had once been covered in green grass and yellow and red trees, even the occasional car and a metal hut that controlled the vault platform and a chain link fence around the area.

Now… Barren ground and dead trees, the fence was in some places completely destroyed and rusted away, the rusted out husks of vehicles stood around as well. Something else caught Thomas's attention, it was quiet, so quiet there wasn't a single bug or animal chirping, just the cold wind blowing. "Damn its cold." Thomas muttered, did this vaultsuit do anything right aside from look stupid?

Slowly Thomas began to make his way down the path, which seemed like just yesterday he had run up to the safety of the vault. "Oh!" Thomas said aloud, he bet the Pipboy had a calendar on it, he could check how many months it had been.

But wait… wouldn't it take years for radiation to fade away? The Geiger counter on the Pipboy wasn't ticking, so how long has it been? Well time to find out.

Thomas raised his left arm and looked at the small calendar "2287!" Thomas yelled. "N, no way how could it be so long…" that had to be like one hundred or two hundred years… He checked the date again. October 25 2287. Was that accurate? Could it really be so long…?

Thomas considered trying to do the math but decided against it, The Pipboy looked dusty and old so maybe it was malfunctioning, but… If it looked so old could it actually be old? He began to run toward Sanctuary hills; he could find answers there!

It didn't take long to reach Sanctuary hills, or what was left of it. The metal houses that stood around the area were in various states of disrepair, some had collapsed while others still stood. Thomas quickly moved to his and saw the front door was closed.

He didn't recall closing it, maybe the wind blew it shut or something? It didn't appear to be fully closed too, just slightly open. Thomas put his hand on the door and gave it a shove, instead of opening, the door just fell off its hinges and hit the ground with a loud crash.

"Well that's depressing." Thomas mumbled. He stepped inside and looked around, what had once been a nice home for his family was now well… very different. The floor was dirty and covered with dust, pieces of wood and broken tiles, the walls were rusted and where there had once been windows were now large holes.

And yet Thomas could remember perfectly how it looked before all this, it felt like just yesterday. He looked up at the ceiling which had several holes in it. With a sigh he quickly moved out of the living room/kitchen and headed for his parent's bedroom.

It was kind of funny, he didn't even need the Pipboy's light, it was dark but he could still see enough to not have to use it. Besides using it when he didn't know if the other houses were occupied or not seemed like a bad idea, then again the door made a lot of noise.

The bedroom looked as bad as everywhere else, there wasn't even a mattress on the bed and the frame had collapsed too, still it wasn't the bed he was looking for, it was the large painting above it, or what was behind it.

The painting was once a landscape of a river in winter, though years of neglect and surviving a nuclear war had destroyed most of it, some of the frame was missing and about half the painting itself was burned away.

Thomas grabbed it and sat it down gently on the floor, the object he was looking for was behind it. A safe. He looked at the keypad on it, he still remembered the code. "1776." He muttered as he hit the buttons, which in turn did nothing.

"Come on." He grumbled as he entered the code again and again, nothing happened. Why wasn't it working? Wait, didn't nukes cause some kind of EMP effect or such that destroys electronics? In that case maybe the manual dial would work? He grabbed the dial and began to turn it.

It took him a moment to figure out how the dial worked but he once again entered the code "1776, the day we became a nation." He muttered. With a click the safe unlocked and Thomas opened it, he looked at the objects inside then quickly grabbed a nearby end table that had somehow not been completely destroyed.

He quickly began to take objects out of the safe. First an emergency fund of dollars, around 50,000 that the entire family chipped into, maybe he could buy some information with it? Next was a silver pocket watch that belonged to his great great… some more greats grandfather, Thomas wasn't sure how far back he went but he was alive around 1910 and a good while past that.

Next, a carton of cigarettes, his father wasn't much of a smoker, he only ever really smoked when he was really stressed, still others smoked and what better way to start a conversation than by offering someone a cigarette, even though Thomas knew smoking was bad for your health and would never do it.

Next he drew out a glass bottle of bourbon, aged 13 years, though probably much older now, his father would bring it out during special occasions so it wasn't drank much.

And last but not least the most important object in the safe. A 1911 45. caliber pistol inside a black colored holster. Thomas drew it out of the holster and looked it over, despite its age it appeared to be perfectly fine, it must be very old now Thomas guessed.

His previously mentioned grandfather had fought in world war one and was issued the pistol there, it had at some point saved his life and he grew so fond of it when the war ended he somehow smuggled it home and even got the family name engraved on the grip.

Thomas slid the magazine out and checked that it was loaded, the holster also had spots for another two magazines and several loaded and unloaded ones were also in the safe along with a box of 45. Bullets.

He quickly reloaded the gun and grabbed the holster and began walking to his room. It was time to get out of this ridiculous suit, if any of his clothes survived that is. He quickly entered his room or what was left of it and found that his dresser had fallen over, after flipping it around he opened it up.

By some sheer luck the clothes inside or some of them were still in good condition, he quickly took the vault jump suit off and slid on a pair of jeans, a white t shirt and a green long sleeved shirt because it was cold. He also grabbed a pair of fresh socks and quickly put them on.

None of his usual shoes would probably work that well, still… his brothers might, after grabbing the holster he quickly moved to his brother's room being careful to avoid any sharp looking things on the floor.

His brothers room didn't look much better than his, Thomas opened the closet and found just what he was looking for. Combat boots, Thomas wasn't sure if his brother had bought them or had been issued them but there they were big tall and black.

Thomas quickly slid them on and tied the laces, his brother wasn't much bigger than him so they fit just fine, he also noticed his trench coat in the closet, it was a large heavy dark brown trench coat with a hood, and still in good shape! He quickly grabbed it and slid it on buttoning it up. He also grabbed a black belt and slid it on.

He didn't need a belt but there were a number of things you could attach to one so it seemed useful. The trench coat had a number of large pockets which would be perfect for holding the 1911's magazines, the fact that it was waterproof was icing on the cake.

Speaking of that gun, he bent down and grabbed the holster from where he had set it on the floor and tied it around his right thigh, he then went back to the safe and grabbed the box of 45. Bullets.

The box only held about 50 so he couldn't load all the magazines but he did load several, he then quickly set them inside two of the coats pockets and the remaining empty ones in another pocket, he also slid two loaded ones into the slots on the holster.

Thomas snapped his fingers, he just remembered one last gift that could come in handy! He moved to his room and threw his closet door open, there hanging on a rack was a large cylinder shaped case, Thomas grabbed it and with a twist opened it revealing a gasmask, he closed the gasmask's case and slid the case's strap around his neck letting it rest against his chest.

It was a simple gasmask that could easily be put on, it had two large lenses and a spot for the filter where the mouth would be his father had it custom made for Thomas as well as others gasmasks for the rest of the family. Their father believed that China might launch an invasion of America and possibly use biological or chemical weapons.

In addition to that he had the entire family learn how to shoot and survive in the woods as well as training in unarmed combat and combat with knives, Thomas hated every bit of it, well not the shooting that was fun but otherwise he considered it time he could've been reading science fiction novels.

Even now he couldn't remember much of the training, he always complained about it, though his brother loved it. It was funny in a way his brother couldn't hit the side of a barn with a handgun while Thomas could score a bullseye four times in a row, but when Thomas had a rifle he couldn't hit anything while his brother could've been a sniper.

Thomas looked back at the closet and reached toward a smaller cylinder sitting on a shelf, he opened it to check the contents and saw the five gas mask filters it held were still sealed in their packaging. He quickly slid the cylinder onto his belt, it had a handy little hook just for it.

Thomas walked toward the door way but stopped catching a reflection of himself in the mirror, well what parts of it that weren't shattered. "Heh, I look like one of those post-apocalyptic characters." He said with a chuckle. Wait why was he talking to himself so much?

He entered the bathroom next and tried to open the first aid kit only to find it locked. "Who the hell locks a first aid kit? Oh no Bob fell and split his skull open go get the first aid kit! Whoops its locked and I can't find the key! Well Bobs going to die then!"

Thomas looked at himself in the bathroom's mirror. "And now I'm ranting to myself, maybe I am going crazy." He mumbled and began to look for the key with the reasoning it couldn't be far from the bathroom, after checking several places he ran his hand over the top of the medicine cabinet and managed to knock it to the floor. Thomas bet his mother was the one who locked it, she was a nurse in one of Boston's hospitals after all.

"Seriously…" He muttered. "Locking a first aid kit seems like a terrible idea." Well unless you had a toddler that chews everything it gets its fingers on. Thomas unlocked the first aid kit, opened it and took stock of the contents.

Three stimpaks, a syringe of Med-X, several types of band aids, medical tape and a roll of bandages and small scissors. Not exactly an infirmary but hey every bit helps right? He carefully slid the first aid kit's contents into one of the coats empty pockets, hopefully it would be sterile enough. But now what would he do? He did most of this from what his father said he should do if something ever happened like a Chinese invasion.

But this wasn't a Chinese invasion, America had been destroyed. Thomas didn't want to believe it at first, but one thing made it kind of clear. The state of Sanctuary hills, if in two hundred or so years they hadn't rebuilt it then something had to be seriously wrong right?

So now what? What did he do now? He couldn't rebuild America, but maybe he could find others? Other people had to have survived, maybe there's a town or settlement or something nearby?

Then there was a loud crash which caused Thomas to jump. He drew the 1911 out of its holster and quietly moved to the living room where it sounded like the crash had come from. Thomas looked up at the large hole in the ceiling then back down at the object that had fallen through it.

It was a very odd looking object, Thomas didn't quite know how to describe it, it almost looked like the nose of a plane though smaller, though it did have propellers, it also had a large hole at the none propeller end that looked like you could slide your leg into it.

The object hadn't taken the fall well and was clearly damaged with dents, pieces of it missing and other parts having broken off in the fall. Just as Thomas was about to step closer to it something else crashed through the ceiling and Thomas quickly ducked behind a wall and then noticed something convenient. A hole in the wall, a small one but he could peak through it and quickly did, it didn't take long for the dust to clear.

The object before was confusing but what he saw now was just, well even more confusing. It was a girl, she had short brown hair with two long ponytails tied with black ribbons, her eyes were brown too. She was wearing a long grey button up coat with black pads on the shoulders and a black bow with its laces hanging down tied around the collar. She might've also been wearing a white undershirt from the traces of white Thomas could just barely make out.

The bottom front of the coat had two long tails that stopped just above her kneecaps and Thomas could also see two pockets on it. She also had a harness of some kind around her coat that held several large drums. That wasn't the strangest part though.

No the strangest part was a toss-up between the floppy brownish light grey dog like ears and the short brownish light grey dog like tail. It was hard to tell the color. The other strange part was the lack of pants.

She was only wearing a pair of panties which were maybe a pale blue or light grey, maybe even a pale light blue? It was again hard to tell, she had nothing on her left leg not even shoes or socks but her right leg had one of those strange propeller devices on it, though maybe they were worn in a set?

Thomas could also see her weapons, which was very worrying, two, not one, two! MG-42's the world war 2 era German machine guns, why the hell would she have two!? It took a group of men to operate one. So the drums must've been their magazines.

The guns had large drum magazines attached to the receiver, they also had slings attached to them. So many questions ran through Thomas's mind at this moment, the oddest but seemingly most logical well by this logic was the thought that some Nazi Germany remnant or some Nazis had used human animal hybrids to take over post nuclear war America.

The girl soon slid her right leg out of the propeller device and then grabbed her two MG-42's and stood up then looked at herself up and down, probably checking for injuries. The girl had been facing him the entire time even before she'd stood up and Thomas was glad she didn't see him watching her through the hole.

Thomas stepped away from the hole in the wall and held his 1911 tightly in his hands, he really wasn't sure what to do, a part of him wanted to run but his legs felt like lead.

At one hand he felt maybe he should confront her, this was his house after all, on the other…. Two MG-42's and that was two to many for Thomas. The living room and the girl were blocking the front door, but thankfully there was a nice big hole in the wall of his parents' bedroom he could go through.

He took his first step and it just so happened to be on a piece of broken glass, which cracked loudly. He really hoped the girl didn't hear that. She clearly did because a moment later she stepped out of the living room and into the hallway just a few feet from Thomas.

She looked mildly surprised to see Thomas, who in turn looked like a deer caught in headlights, it took him a moment or two to snap out of it but when he did he grabbed and leveled the 1911 in a two handed grip and closed his right eye centering the sights on the woman's chest.

"Drop the machine guns!" He yelled hoping he sounded serious enough. To his surprise the woman didn't aim her guns at him she just looked slightly surprised. "It's okay, I'm a witch. Lower your gun." She said in a calm tone in German accented English. "Like hell I'm gonna! Put the MG-42's on the ground now!" He yelled doing his best not to shake.

* * *

Gertrud was surprised when she found herself falling through the sky at night, it wasn't night before! She was even more surprised when she saw she was heading for the roof off an old looking and odd looking metal house, she had to use her shield to reduce the impact which is probably what helped her handle the impact without injuries.

She only had a few seconds to check herself for injuries and to collect her MG-42's before she heard the sound of broken glass. She quickly moved into the hallway to investigate and was surprised to find a man.

And Even more surprised when he leveled a Liberian pistol at her, with proper aim too. Then he told her to drop her weapon in Liberion accented Britannin. Time spent around two fellow members of the 501st, Flight Sergeant Lynette Bishop and Flying Officer Charlotte E Yeager had given her the ability to tell the difference in the accent, well to an extent.

When she had tried to calm him down by telling him she was a witch and saying so in Britannin he reacted no differently and told her to put her MG-42's on the ground, which was strange in its own way, to have a civilian know about a military weapon… Well she assumed he was a civilian.

She'd try again, slinging her left MG-42 around her shoulder she raised her left hand and took a step forward toward the Liberian. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you. I'm a witch with the 501st Joint. - "The loud sound of a gunshot and the feeling of a bullet grazing her hair stopped her. That's it! It was time for her to get serious! She leveled her right MG-42 at the man and took careful aim. She didn't want to shoot or kill a human, but if she had to she would defend herself.

* * *

Thomas was now regretting firing at her, he wasn't trying to hit her he aimed to miss, but now she was aiming at him, not only that but god damn was that loud! His ears were still ringing!

"P, Put it down!" He could barely hear himself say over the ringing. "Drop your weapon." she yelled! "I will shoot you if you don't!" She sounded serious or well did she? He couldn't hear her super well.

"You drop yours!" He snapped back. "I'm a witch from the 501st Joint fighter wing and a soldier of Karlsland! If you don't drop your weapon, I will shoot you!" Gertrud really hoped he would obey, Karlsland was well known for its fine military, even its conventional forces were considered some of the best, hopefully that renown and skill would be enough to make this scared Liberian lower his gun.

"I don't care if you're from the Goddamn Prussian empire or whatever! Your trespassing on private property and I'm pretty damn sure the New England Commonwealth laws and the laws of Massachusetts would more than allow me to put a 45. Caliber slug straight into your chest!" Thomas yelled.

Before either of them could threaten each other anymore and before Gertrud could question what the New England Commonwealth was a loud buzzing sound filled the hallway, in Thomas's case he looked behind him while Gertrud leaned slightly to the side to see past him.

Both were surprised to see what could only be a giant mosquito, it had to be about the size of a large dog, the loud buzzing of its large wings filled the hallway. "What the hell is that!" The Liberian yelled.

The bloodbug darted forward with another two in tow, the three having heard the yelling and the gunshot which had led them to prey brimming with fresh warm blood.

Thomas leveled the 1911 and fired, his shot tore straight through the bloodbug's head and it tumbled to the ground in a heap, but before he could aim at the second it had already reached him. He dove to the right his shoulder slamming into the wall while attempting to avoid the monster, it wasn't enough and while the bloodbug's proboscis didn't spear into his chest it did spear straight through his left hand.

The Liberian's first shot had stopped one of the monstrous mosquitos but the second one had managed to get his hand, before Gertrud could even move to help the third one had moved close to her, she summoned her shield on instinct and with the force of a large dog the bloodbug slammed into it.

The force of the impact caught her off guard but her shield held, she was even surprised to see that its proboscis had been broken and was just hanging there, it must've taken the brunt of the impact.

With one hand she leveled her right MG-42 at the monster and squeezed the trigger. In the confined space of the hallway the machine guns' fire was deafening even more so than the 45. Pistol. The bright muzzle flashes were slightly blinding, though her magic's ability to grant her superhuman strength helped her keep the recoil prone machine gun on target.

The bloodbug was cut to ribbons or chunks depending on what word you wanted to use, though chunks were probably more accurate. She looked over at the Liberian who was now on his back with the other large bug on his chest keeping him pinned. The bug was jerking its head back and forth trying to free itself and judging by the Liberian's cries of pain it was unpleasant.

Before she could move to help the Liberian pushed the barrel of his 1911 against its thorax and fired about four times and the massive mosquito slumped against his chest dead.

Thomas scrambled trying to get the monster off of him, his hand had never hurt so much. In his panic fueled haste, it took him a moment to figure out he had to get his hand un-impaled before he could get it off of him.

Slowly he pulled his hand backwards, his hand only made it about halfway down the monster mosquito's proboscis but every second of moving it hurt more than any pain he'd ever felt, there was so much blood, on his coat, on the floor, and all over his hand.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity his hand was free, he quickly pushed the dead bloodbug off himself and stood up. He looked at his hand and saw a large hole in his palm, big enough to fit his index finger through he thought. The damn proboscis even penetrated bone!

Thomas looked over and saw the girl was still standing there now holding both her MG-42's, he tried to aim his pistol in the same two handed grip as last time but his left hand hurt far too much.

He settled for holding it in his right hand aiming it directly at her, in turn he found two MG-42's aimed at him. Neither of them said anything it was so quiet for a bit that the only sound was the blood dripping from Thomas's left hand hitting the floor. Then Thomas broke the silence. "What the hell was that!" he yelled at her. "Why would you think I know?" She replied in seemingly the calmest tone he'd ever heard.

"Because!" Thomas stopped, why would he think she'd know? "Since you don't know seem to know what that thing was I'll ask a different question, where am I? She asked.

"The united states." Thomas replied simply. "Liberion then, well that explains your accent." She replied. "Liberion? No I said the United states!" Thomas corrected her. "Yes the United States of Liberion." She said as if it wasn't the most absurd thing anyone had ever said to an American.

"What? No! The United States of America." Thomas corrected her again. "The United states of America?" She questioned as if she had never heard of the country. "Do you mean North America?" She had of course heard the stereotypes that Liberians weren't the sharpest tool in she shed but this one was being ridiculous.

"What no! That's where America is located! You are in the United States of America, the New England commonwealth, Boston Massachusetts! Or at least near Boston." "Massachusetts is a state in Liberion!" Gertrud had never been to Liberion but she knew that much.

"It's in America!" Thomas yelled quite annoyed with the girl. "The girl seemed equally annoyed, or was getting there. "Do I have to show you a map?" She questioned in an annoyed tone.

"Yeah, sure! Show me a map, in fact I'll show you one too! We just uh have to go to the living room to grab it." Thomas said. "Before that you should probably stop the bleeding from your hand before you pass out." She stated calmly.

Thomas looked down at his hand and saw blood was running down his index and middle finger then dripping off the tip and onto the floor, in a nice little red puddle too. How did he not notice that?

Slowly to make sure the girl didn't shoot him he reached into his pocket and drew out a stimpak, the girl eyed the medical appliance with what looked like both curiosity and caution.

The stimpak was cylinder shaped with a small needle sticking out of the bottom of it, on the cylinder was a small window like slit that showed an orange redish colored substance inside it. At the end of the stimpak was a gauge and below the gauge where two metal pieces shaped kind of like the arms of a cross with wires going from them to the gauge.

While holding the stimpak and 1911 in his right hand, which was difficult, Thomas slowly pushed the tip of the needle into the side of the hole in his left hand, pressed a button on the cylinder and held it there. Slowly the gauge on the end of it began to move toward zero while an orange redish colored foam leaked out of the needle and began to cover the entire hole and quickly hardened.

Thomas dropped the stimpak on the floor and pulled the roll of bandages out of his pocket and began to wrap his left hand. The entire time the girl watched at one point her face seemed to take on a look of surprise or maybe amazement at the stimpak however it quickly faded.

He finished wrapping his hand and taped the bandages down with the medical tape. He was glad the girl didn't shoot him, while holding both the gun and stimpak in his right hand he wasn't sure if he would be able to level it at her fast enough to do something should she decide to try and shoot him.

"Alright, now for the map Thomas said, follow me I guess." Thomas began to walk to the living room looking behind him to make sure the girl was following, he was holding his 1911 in his right hand keeping the barrel pointed at the floor, the woman was doing the same for her MG-42's though how she had the strength to carry both of them he had no idea.

They both quickly moved to the living room and Thomas walked to a small bookshelf that hung from the wall, he threw several books aside until he found what he was looking for, a book of maps.

The vast majority of the book was burnt and damaged and when he pulled it off the shelf the front cover nearly tore off, he opened it and went through the damaged pages looking for any kind of useable map. Sadly, they all seemed to damaged burnt or somehow water damaged.

At least until one folded up piece of paper fell to the floor, it took Thomas a moment to remember what it was, but it would do. He reached down and grabbed it off the floor and began to unfold it.

It was the family's world map, one day his brother had grabbed it and in his haste had accidently torn it from the book so they just folded it and jammed it in between the pages.

Thomas flopped the unfolded world map on the floor, it was nearly brand new having been made in July 2077. "There." Thomas said. "A proper world map."

Gertrud took a step forward to study the map and quickly noticed how wrong it was. The entire continent of North America, all the continents looked wrong. She couldn't find Karlsland or The United states of Liberion or The Fuso Empire or Britannia! She couldn't find any of them or any of the other nations she was familiar with.

However right there was the United States of America and above it was American Canada. She read the names of several other countries she didn't know too. Germany, Japan, France, the U.S.S.R., Great Britain. There was also something called the European Commonwealth.

Then in the corner she noticed something, a date and some writing in britannin. This map was made on July 8th 2077.

"Is this some kind of joke!?" Gertrud said, her temper starting to show. This damn Liberian was really beginning to annoy her. "That map is as accurate as can be, it is American after all." Thomas said with no small amount of pride entering his voice.

Gertrud didn't reply she just opened one of her pockets and drew out a world map of her own, a good soldier was always prepared so she carried several maps with her. She unfolded it and laid it down next to Thomas's map.

"This map is correct." She stated as Thomas leaned down to study it. "It says this map was made in 1942." Thomas said. "Well of course." Gertrud said. "It's accurate." For a world map that is, of course the military kept constantly updated maps to watch over the Neuroi's positions as best they could.

Thomas continued to study the map while mouthing off names of the different nations. "The United States of Liberion, Fuso, Orussia, Gallia…." "None of these nations are real!" Thomas yelled. "Of course they're real!" Gertrud defended. "Unlike the ones on your map!"

"You're in the United States of America! I mean according to this map there's some imposter country called the United states of Liberion and its 1942!" Thomas yelled at her then quickly covered his mouth and looked around making sure no more bloodbugs had heard.

"It's not 1942 its 1945." Gertrud said. "That's when world war 2 ended." Thomas said crossing his arms. "World war 2?" Gertrud questioned. "Yeah, you know the deadliest war in human history."

"Do you mean the second Neuroi war?" Gertrud questioned. "We're still fighting, your country Liberion is too!" Gertrud said. "My country is the United States of America, the most powerful country in the world, not this Liberion joke you keep mouthing off about." Thomas said looking annoyed.

"And we've never fought in some second Neuroi war, whatever the hell that is." Thomas muttered. "I mean what the hell is a Neuroi?" He added looking at her.

"How can you not know what a Neuroi is? Have you been living under a rock? Or are you stupid? Or just playing a game with me? If so I don't have time for this!" She yelled then looked around to make sure no more giant mosquitos flew in.

"God damn it! You're so confusing I just- Ugh!" Thomas yelled putting his hands on the sides of his head with his 1911 still in his right hand. Thomas took a deep breath and then looked at Gertrud.

"Okay, how about this? We both sit down, holster our guns and we ask each other questions. Because this yelling is getting us nowhere and we're just brushing off each other's questions. So let's just take turns asking and answering. I ask you a question and you answer as best you can, then you ask me a question and I answer as best I can. And we won't just declare whatever the other said to be wrong or impossible or such okay? How's that sound?"

"It sounds like the smartest thing you've said all day." Gertrud replied. "Yeah, staring off with an insult, nice one kraut." Thomas said using the one of the names American soldiers called Germans during world war 2.

Thomas sat down on the floor next to the maps sliding his 1911 into its holster as he did so, Gertrud sat down directly across from him with her MG-42's resting on her lap, they both sat with their legs crisscrossed.

"Well, ladies first. Oh and by the way, I'm Thomas Glasswell." "I'm Gertrud Barkhorn, first question, where am I? Really I mean." Gertrud asked. "You're in the United States of America." Thomas said while softly tapping America on the map.

"My turn then, what are you? You mentioned you were a witch earlier? Like with brooms, magic and familiars?" Thomas asked. "I'm a witch, a soldier who uses magic to fight the Neuroi, conventional military forces are massively outmatched against them, we witches fly in Striker units." She stopped the motion at the object with the propellers on it that had crashed through the ceiling earlier.

"So, what makes a witch so much better than say a tank?" Thomas asked. "A witch is capable of high speed flight using her striker unit, as well as possessing magic, and enhanced physical ability's we're also capable of aerial maneuvers aircraft can't match and we can also summon defensive shields to block the Neuroi's lasers."

"And the ears and tail?" Thomas asked. "It's my familiar, familiars manifest when a witch uses her magic, if I was in my striker unit then It would be constantly manifesting, but in this case I'm using my magic as we speak."

"And your magic is?" Thomas said motioning with his hand for her to continue. "Superhuman strength." She said simply causing Thomas to nod. "Your turn then, in fact I guess you could ask a couple of questions if you wanted too since I asked so many." Thomas said.

"You mentioned a world war 2 earlier?" "Ah, um that's a lot to explain really." "How much?" Gertrud questioned. "Several books maybe?" Thomas said. "Just give me a short version then." Gertrud replied.

"Alright, let's see, from 1939 to 1945 a number of countries fought each other from Asia, Europe and Africa. The countries that were fighting both formed two, I guess groups. The Allies and the Axis." Thomas said. "Continue." Is all Gertrud said.

"Well on the side of the Allies there was the United States of America, the U.S.S.R. France, Great Britain and several other countries. On the side of the Axis there was Germany though now days we call it Nazi Germany, there was also Italy and the empire of Japan as well as a few other countries."

Thomas continued. "They fought for six years or so all across the world from deserts, to forests, to snow, the jungle and the sea. When the war finally ended the Axis had been defeated and the death toll counting both military and civilians was about 60 million I think."

Gertrud looked shocked. "How could it have gotten so high?" Not even the Neuroi had taken that many lives during the first and current Neuroi wars combined.

"Well during the war pretty much anything that could hurt a country's war effort was a target, including civilian morale and cities. Mass formations of bombers decimated cities, Lancaster's, B-17's, whatever the French used and all."

"By the end of it Berlin, Tokyo and several other cities on both sides were in ruin." Thomas finished. "Wait! Berlin! You said Berlin!?" Gertrud said sounding alarmed. "Uh yeah, Berlin was the or is the capital of Germany." Thomas stated.

"But… It's the capital of Karlsland, just like Tokyo is the capital of Fuso." Gertrud said sounding surprised. "Well they're also the capital of Germany and Japan." Thomas said. "Continuing on, the war also led us into the atomic age with the first atomic bombs being dropped on Japanese cities."

"The massive death rate also had to do with the Axis's treatment of those it captured and the Nazi's horrible acts. The Japanese considered surrender a dishonor and treated those who surrendered to them terribly, they also experimented on humans horribly too."

"Then there's what the Nazi's did, they took anyone they considered inferior, homosexuals, those with physical deformities or mental illness, Jewish people and generally anyone they didn't like and killed them, sometimes by firing squad but the usual ways were massive camps where they shoved men women and children into chambers and gassed them." Thomas said.

Gertrud looked horrified. "How could anyone do that!?" She said sounding shocked and angered. Thomas only shrugged. "They just did, at the end of the war those that survived were caught and placed on trial for crimes against humanity, they would be arrested for life or a period of time or killed, several also escaped capture, and America and the U.S.S.R. also took several Nazi scientists for themselves." Thomas finished. "But why would they take the scientists? And you said atomic bombs? And B-17's and Landcasters?" Gertrud asked several questions.

"Great Britain used Landcasters as their bombers while America used B-17's and later B-29's. As for the scientists, America and the U.S.S.R. were only allies in the war because of a common enemy, otherwise they disliked each other due to how they ran their governments, hell we're still having issues with them… or were… Anyways the Nazi's had soared ahead in technology so those who were good in their fields were snatched up by America and the U.S.S.R. for use in the coldwar."

"Britannia and Liberion use B-17's and Landcasters… Wait, cold war? And again you said something about atomic bombs? What are those?" The witch ace asked. "Ah, my turn to ask a question." Thomas said.

"Go ahead." Gertrud said. "How come you're not wearing any pants?" Thomas asked simply. "Oh, that's simple." Gertrud said. "They cause issues with striker units, so witches usually just stay in their undergarments."

"Ah… Um… Okay?" Thomas said not really sure what to respond with. "Your turn then." "What was the cold war? And these atomic bombs you mentioned." Gertrud asked.

"The cold war to sum it up was a massive and long arms race between the U.S.S.R. and America. And Atomic bombs and Nuclear missiles are kind of hard to explain since I don't remember how they create the explosion it has to do with a mineral called uranium."

"Missiles?" Gertrud questioned. "Oh right those weren't around in 1945 huh? A missile is like well a guided rocket that can one way or another, track its target and chase after it." Thomas said. "Really?" Gertrud asked. "Yup." Thomas said.

Gertrud had heard the rumors that Karlsland was working on radio guided bombs but guided rockets? Those would be dangerous indeed. "Anyways." Thomas said. "A nuclear or atomic explosion, they're the same thing just two different words."

Thomas continued his explanation. "it's a massive explosion that is so powerful just one can wipe out a city, they also leave behind a type of deadly after effect called fallout, which is a tasteless odorless invisible substance called radiation or such. Radiation can get into water and contaminate it, anything that is in contact with large amounts of it will usually die a horrible slow death, or maybe in the case of those mosquitos grow bigger… At least I think that's how it goes." Thomas said.

"My turn!" He said sounding slightly excited. Before Gertrud could say anything he asked his question. "Where, or how did you get two MG-42's?" "What? From the 501st armory. MG-42's are a Karlsland machine gun." She said sounding confused.

"They were also used by Nazi Germany." Thomas simply stated. Gertrud looked down at her weapons in her lap. "What is Karlsland?" Thomas asked.

"Its… My homeland." Gertrud said. "It's occupied by the Neuroi." "You mentioned them before right?" Thomas asked. "They're aliens who invaded earth, I don't know where they came from or how long they've been around but they've destroyed countless lives and decimated entire nations…" Gertrud said in a quiet sad sounding tone.

"What makes them so powerful?" Thomas asked. "They fire lasers that can wipe out tanks, planes and infantry in one shot, they also have regenerating armor and the only way to destroy them is by destroying their core." Gertrud said.

"Lasers?" Thomas questioned. "Oh, a laser is a-." Before Gertrud could finish Thomas interrupted her. "I know what a laser is! We have them." Thomas said sounding annoyed for a second. "Sorry…" He mumbled.

"You have lasers?" Gertrud asked looking straight at Thomas. "Well yeah we had laser rifles and pistols as well as other energy weapons, our military was in the process of phasing out conventional guns in favor of them." Thomas said.

Gertrud was quiet for a moment before responding. "Your turn to ask a question then." Thomas stopped to think for a moment. "I can't really think of one…" Thomas said. Gertrud looked around at the walls and ceiling."

"What happened to this place?" She asked. "Ah…" Thomas said looking down with a said tone. "All these questions made me forget for a moment…" "Remember those nuclear weapons I mentioned earlier…?"

"Yes." She replied. "I think…. I think America was destroyed by them, by the country we were at war with… China…" Thomas pointed at China on the map. "The world was having an energy crisis and we were fighting China because they invaded us… We pushed them off our soil and invaded china… And I guess either us or them decided to use nuclear weapons…"

"So you mean… that country destroyed your own?" Gertrud asked. "Yes… But I'm guessing we destroyed them too, we had nuclear weapons too, if they used theirs we used ours…"

"I remember it all like it was yesterday… it was October 23 2077; I'd just finished breakfast when the report of nuclear explosions came in… I ran to the vault and-." "Wait vault?" Gertrud interrupted. "Oh yeah… The vault, a company called vault-tech made massive underground vaults to protect people in case of a nuclear attack."

"There's one not far from here…. Anyways I ran to it along with our neighbors and managed to get inside just as one of the explosions in Boston occurred… The personal there led us inside and eventually we entered these giant pods… they said they would do a medical check on us or such before we'd continue deeper inside, but they lied…" Thomas said.

"What did they do then?" Gertrud asked. "I think they froze us or something…. Because I woke up and the entire vault which had looked brand new was old and rusted… almost everyone else in the pods were dead for some reason and so were most of the vault personal, I ran… then I found this." Thomas said pointing to his pipboy.

Gertrud leaned a bit closer to get a better view of the device on Thomas's arm. "What is it?" She asked. "A computer." Thomas replied. "Computer?" Gertrud asked. "Oh right those weren't around in 1945 huh? Um let me think how to describe it…. Uhm… Well it's kinda like a library I guess?"

Thomas continued. "This one is called a pipboy they were issued only to vaults as far as I know, pipboys are special, they're the most advanced I think and portable too, they can keep track of its wearers health, record information, play tapes, act as a flashlight, download information from other computers and it even has a Geiger counter that can detect radiation."

"It sounds like a useful tool." Gertrud said. "Yeah, I'm lucky to have found it." Gertrud seemed to think for a moment then glanced at the calendar on the fridge.

"What Year is it, as far as I know its 1945 but your map said it was 2077 and so does that calendar." Gertrud said pointing at the fridge. Thomas looked down at his pipboy. "The pipboy's calendar says its October 25 2287, 10:20 Pm." He said.

"Is it accurate?" The witch asked. "I don't know it looks pretty old so maybe, anyways let's recap okay? You say you're a witch, a soldier who uses magic, and devices called striker units to fly and you're from a country called Karlsland which is occupied by an alien force called the Neuroi, and there its 1945."

Gertrud nodded. "And here I'm in some country called the United states of America, where the year is 2287 and back in the year 2077 was destroyed by some kind of superweapon by a country which you were at war with, and you survived by being frozen in an underground vault."

"Yep." Thomas said. The two just stood there in silence for a moment. "I'd like to say this is some kind of dream or your just crazy but, after seeing a nuclear explosion and waking up from being frozen for possibly a hundred or two hundred years I don't really know what to believe anymore."

"I'd like to call you crazy as well however those giant mosquitos earlier were…" Gertrud didn't seem to know what word to use. "I'm curious about our apparent different worlds or dimensions or whatever." Thomas said.

"Your world is called Earth right?" Gertrud nodded. "So is this one." Thomas said. "So I guess its maybe another dimension?" "Another dimension?" Gertrud questioned.

"I read a lot of science fiction, and several mention something like there being other dimensions where things are both similar and different, maybe it's like that? I mean there were several theories at the time so… Besides they do seem to have some similarities at least weaponry wise." "Besides." Thomas said. "What else can we think of to explain it?"

Gertrud suddenly stood up. "I see then, I need to get back to my unit, they as well as my homeland need me." Thomas just looked up at her, while trying his best to ignore how nice her legs and thighs looked.

"Do you know how?" Gertrud didn't say anything. "I see." Thomas stopped to think for a moment before replying. "Okay, I'll help you." "What?" Gertrud said looking down at him. "I appreciate the offer and all but, and I don't mean to offend you, you're a civilian and you'll likely just get in my way."

"Offense taken." Thomas mumbled. "Do you know any of the area around here? Because I know a little bit, plus my pipboy has a map of the area, not only that but it has a Geiger counter, you could easily walk into a puddle of super radioactive water and die, plus strength in numbers. Your new to this dimension, and god know what's out there. So it makes sense for two people who have no idea what could be out there to work together."

Thomas crossed his arms. "Not only that but my father was a soldier and he taught me how to shoot, do you think I missed your head by chance earlier? I aimed to miss." Thomas said sounding prideful.

Gertrud stared at him seemingly thinking over what he said. "Alright fine, but I can't offer you anything for your help." She said. "That's fine." Thomas mumbled… "What do I have to live for anyway? My country's probably dead I'm sure everyone I knew is too… Still maybe I can help you out a bit… Besides my father always said to help a lady in trouble. I should tell you I have no idea how to get you back to your dimension however, if that's even what it is."

Thomas stood up. "First help me move that table." He said pointing to a large dining table. "Why?" She questioned. "Because please help me move it." He said grabbing one end of the table. Gertrud soon grabbed the other and they moved it, Thomas then threw the rug under it aside revealing a small door in the floor.

Thomas opened the door revealing a backpack. "A backpack?" Gertrud questioned. "Yeah, my dad was kind of paranoid something would happen like an invasion or a nuclear strike… Guess he was right. But its full of canned food and water and other useful items which should probably still be good and unaffected by radiation, the compartment was lead lined, which blocks radiation I think."

Thomas slung the backpack around his shoulders. "Its heavy." He muttered. "Now we need to find you some pants and shoes." "Pants?" The witch questioned.

"Uh yeah… Look around here it's not normal to be running around in your underwear and you could easily cut your legs or something, however my neighbor had a daughter about maybe your height? I don't know but she may have shoes and pants or such that might fit. Follow me."

Gertrud dismissed her familiar and slung her left MG-42 against her shoulder using the strap and walked past Thomas to the doorway of the front door. Thomas totally only stared at her butt for a second or two… He kind of regretted mentioning it now but still her health was more important.

Gertrud looked about at the ruined area, husks of odd looking cars, collapsed houses and others in states of disrepair. Thomas stepped next to her. "It's that one right there." He said pointing at a nearby house that hadn't collapsed but had clearly seen better years. "Watch were you step there could be metal or glass around."

Gertrud nodded and began walking to the house, Thomas following behind they entered the dark inside. "I didn't use it earlier but the pipboy has a flash light, hold on a moment." He began to fiddle with the wrist mounted computer and a moment later the screen lit up bathing the area around them in a circle of red light.

"I could see easily enough without it but thanks." The witch said. "Just didn't want you stepping on glass." The two began to move around the house, a ruined couch sat in the living room chunks of the floor were strewn about, the fridge had fallen over too. Eventually they arrived at a bed room and Gertrud began to search the dressers for clothes.

Thomas meanwhile found a pair of boots in a nearby closet along with a pair of well-preserved grey socks. He turned around just as Gertrud was slipping her legs into a pair of grey colored pants that matched her coat, she quickly zipped and buttoned them up, Thomas handed her the boots and socks and she quickly slid them on and tied the laces.

"How do they fit? Do you need a belt?" He asked. "They fit fine, thank you for the light." "Of course." Thomas said with a smile. "So I guess we should head out now huh? If I recall the nearest town is Concord to the south of here, maybe we can find some answers there?" They began walking toward the end of the small community when Gertrud asked a question. "So why is it red?" She asked motioning to the light radiating off the screen.

"I changed it to make the text and images appear red, that could be why, it's my favorite color too. Should I turn it off I mean it could make us an easy target for snipers if there are any that is." Thomas said. "You should turn it off." Gertrud replied. With a nod Thomas turned the light off. "Let's just follow the road, it should lead to Concord."

After crossing a wooden bridge with a good chunk missing out of one of its side the two continued to follow the road with only the light of the stars and the moon to guide them, which wasn't much at all really. It was quiet until Thomas decided to strike up a conversation with his magical companion.

"You know I thought the air would be kind of rough and hard to breath but it's really pleasant right now, a little cold but nice, and the sky is so clear you can easily see the moon and the stars." He said directing his gaze upward. "It's a nice night." Is all his companion replied with.

"So a witch huh? You really flew using those things? Oh we left it behind didn't we, should we go back and grab it?" He asked. "No, it would slow us down, besides it's not like anyone here can use it, and yes we do fly with our striker units."

"It must get chilly." Thomas remarked. "Especially when you're in just your panties and a shirt." "It can be sometimes." Gertrud replied frankly. Thomas sighed, so much for breaking the ice she was being fairly frank with her replies and Thomas got the feeling he may have been annoying her.

After all she was a soldier away from her unit and her homeland when it needed her most, she probably didn't want to answer his stupid questions she probably wanted to get home as soon as she could, no point in annoying her like he did everyone else so he kept quiet as they walked.

Soon a building appeared on the horizon. "What is that?" Gertrud asked as she stopped to look at the building. "It's a red rocket truck stop, they're fairly common and are scattered around the city and its outskirts." Thomas said. "We should probably not get to close, who knows what could be in there." He added, Gertrud only nodded and they continued on.

Before long the first sign of Concord appeared, destroyed houses which slowly gave way to more buildings a good many seemingly boarded up. Gertrud removed her left MG-42 from her shoulder and summoned her familiar causing her tails and ears to appear, Thomas watched as her brownish light grey tail seemingly appeared through her grey pants with no issue, well at least she didn't have to cut a hole in them.

Thomas drew his 1911 and held it with his right hand, his left still hurt, not enough to keep him from holding it in a two handed grip but enough to make it uncomfortable to the point of not wanting to unless he really had to.

It wasn't long before the two came across the first sign of people which happened to be a body, clad in strange leather like clothing and with a strange sack like hood that looked like a sack with hoses sticking out of it. Whoever it was had been killed by gunfire judging by the large amount of bullet holes that had shredded most of his torso. Next to his body were bullet casings and a strange crude looking pistol that looked like it had been made out of a block of wood and pipes, its magazine was also missing.

Thomas and Gertrud were on guard now, as they continued onward they found more bodies dressed sometimes in the same clothing as the one they found before and sometimes in similar clothing, they all had guns and in some cases various knifes and blunt objects such as pool cues and switchblades, all the guns seemed to have been made out of wood and metal quite crudely they all had their magazines missing too just like the pistol they found before.

Not all seemed to have died from bullets either, the street and nearby buildings were marked with bullet holes but some also had large burns, several bodies did too, one who must've been particularly unlucky seemed to have had most of his face burned with even a bit of his skull showing, as far as Thomas knew only one weapon aside from maybe a flamethrower could do that and it was a laser based weapon.

"Someone must have a laser based weapon of some kind." Thomas said looking down at the body. "Do you know much about them?" Gertrud asked. "I know the standard rifle has good range and is semi-automatic and in rare cases powerful enough to reduce an entire human to a pile of ash." Thomas said. "They did a magazine article on it once." He added.

The only bodies lying around were those of the men with the seemingly crude pipe weapons. "Whoever these guys are they go their asses kicked huh? I wonder if that's a good or bad thing." Thomas said. "Let's keep moving." Gertrud replied.

They continued to move through Concord with continuing indications that some kind of major fight had happened here. Then Thomas saw something laying on the ground, though he couldn't make much of it out in the darkness. "What is that?" He said and a moment later raised his pipboy and turned the light on to reveal some kind of monster.

It had dark brownish black scaled skin, two long arms with sharp looking blood soaked claws at the end, a long tail, two long legs with three toed claws, it had horns on its head and orange colored eyes.

It had been shredded with bullets and some burn spots as well, it took a lot of fire power to bring down by the look of it and judging by the people around it in various states of dismemberment it hadn't gone down without a fight either.

Thomas soon noticed something else in the light of the pipboy, cracks in the road, like something heavy had fallen there. He looked up and noted the roof of the museum of freedom was above them, right next to the museum was a chapel.

"I wonder what happened here." He said aloud. "I don't know but I don't think we'll be getting our answers." Gertrud said. "Well we could try the buildings." Thomas replied. He had moved closer to the church to take a look at it, that's when he noticed something extending from side of the roof of the museum.

"Uh, there's a vertibird crashed into the side of the museum." He said while staring at the aircrafts tail. "A what?" Gertrud replied as she joined him in staring at the strange aircrafts tail, well strange in her opinion. "It was a helicopter America was using, still a prototype I think, my brother flew one in the military." Thomas said, his voice sounding sad as he mentioned his brother. "Helicopter?" Gertrud questioned.

"Oh right you didn't have those in 1945, or wait did you? Never mind, It's an aircraft that can take off straight up into the air, and I don't know exactly how it works, but I know a vertibird could rotate its engines from pointing straight up to pointing forward like a plane's engines would." Thomas said. "It sounds like a very advanced aircraft." Gertrud replied. "My brother said they're pretty fragile and that enough bullets would bring one down, but it was a prototype I suppose."

"Let's go into the museum and see if we can't find a way to the roof." He said as he headed toward the museum's door. He pushed it open and stepped inside using his light to reveal the interior or what was left of it, the museum was seemingly half destroyed with chunks strewn here and there and even areas of the floor missing.

Thomas looked up at the large skylight on the museums roof. "Look you can see one of the vertibird's engines." He said pointing at the engine that had smashed through the skylight.

The skylight was shattered in most area's too and had several torn banners hanging from it, the area around the museum was littered with bullet casings and more bodies of the men from before. "God it's like a warzone or something." Thomas said. "Yeah it is." Gertrud replied as she looked around.

They began to explore the museum coming across exhibits from the revolutionary war. Thomas stopped in front of one of the red coat manequins and poked its forehead with his index finger causing it to fall with a thud. "Oh and down goes the monarchy." He said with a smile.

They slowly made their way to the other floors of the museum and came across something interesting as they neared the exit to the roof, a mural. It had images from several of America's past conflicts, from the revolutionary war, to the first world war, to the second world war and the cold war and several wars past the cold war.

There was a plaque too which Thomas began to read aloud. "This mural commemorates the many sacrifices of the brave men and women of the united states armed forces.

From Lexington and Concord to the shores of Iwo Jima, from the sea of Tranquility to the Anchorage front line, Americans have fought and died through the ages to secure our nations freedom.

May their sacrifices remind us all that freedom is a privilege afforded to many yet hard one by a noble few." Thomas finished reading.

Gertrud stared at the mural, more so the B-29's and the large American/ Liberian battleship on it, it was easy to call Liberion a nation of slackers and easy going pleasure seekers but the truth of it was that Liberion was one of if not the most industrialized nation in the world, it was also fairly advanced in terms of technology and weaponry, Liberion was one of the few nations which could stand toe to toe with Karlsland.

So just what kind of weaponry did this America have? She questioned to herself as she looked at a picture on the mural most likely an American soldier in some kind of massive armored suit holding a massive gun. "Gertrud?" Thomas's voice brought her out of her thoughts and she turned to look at him. "Yes?" She asked. "Are you alright? You kind of spaced out." He asked sounding concerned. "I'm fine, let's head to the roof." She said as she began walking.

A minute or so later they had arrived at the roof and the crashed vertibird, it was an odd looking aircraft with a bubble shaped canopy, and sliding doors on its fuselage, its landing gear had been deployed from inside its body as well, its engines were also missing their rotors, they probably broke off in the crash Thomas assumed.

He stepped into the fuselage and noticed something, a small mount possibly for a door mounted mini gun, however it looked like something had been torn from it, the mini gun maybe? If someone had used it then that would explain all the bullet holes around the museum and Concord.

"What's this?" Gertrud asked holding up a small square shaped object. "That's a holodisk, let me see it, my pipboy can play them." Thomas said holding his hand out to Gertrud, she handed him the holodisk and he began to fuss with his pipboy.

Eventually he managed to open a door on it and insert the holodisk, though he had to try a few times before he got it in the right way, with a click the disk began to play. "Personal log." A male sounding voice said. "United States army staff sergeant Michael Daly." It continued.

"This past Saturday, October 23d while en route to west Stockbridge our vertibird crashed into the roof of this museum. The cause, EMP following nuclear detonation. Several in fact. From the intel I've gathered this was a global event.

The co-pilot was killed on impact, pilot died of his injuries a day later. Day after that Flaherty and Kanawa were shot by some scared desperate survivors, then Proznanski took off running, haven't seen him since.

Now it's my turn to go AWOL, it that concept even applies anymore, my armor's fusion core is burned out, so I guess my soldiering days are done. I'm heading to Boston on foot to see if my sister survived all this. She's got an apartment on Baylston street, this is Mike Daly, signing out. Good luck. And god bless America, or what's left of it."

The holodisk ended. "Well, that would've been a long time ago, I wonder if he found his sister." Thomas looked at Gertrud. "Sorry Gertrud I guess they aren't any answers here, still it was worth a shot."

Gertrud only nodded, then a second later there was the crack of thunder and the sprinkle of rain. "Awh, is it going to rain?" Thomas said as he looked at the church steeple "It looks like it might." Gertrud said. "Well let's get to that church and wait it out, for all we know the rain could be radioactive."

"Why not stay in the museum?" Gertrud asked. "Well it looks kind of damaged already, plus the bodies and the vertibird, they are nuclear powered so it exploding would probably destroy the building." Thomas said. "Well I suppose the steeple would give us a good view." Gertrud said, the two began to move back down the museum and a few minutes later arrived in the church.

It was in surprisingly good condition for a building that had survived a nuclear war, aside from being very dusty and having a few skeletons laying on the floor or in the pews and one hunched over the podium. The two moved into the rest of the church using the entrance to the left of the podium.

They soon moved up a flight of stairs which lead to an office like room which had two doorways that lead to a wooden catwalk that was above the church's pew and podium area. At the end of the catwalk was a spiral staircase which lead to the top of the steeple.

Thomas sat his backpack down on a metal desk in the office room and opened it up. "I'm going to see what's in the backpack." He said, he probably should've done it before they left though he thought. He opened it up and began to remove the contents, and announced them out loud.

"Several cans of military surplus water, several packets of military surplus meals ready to eat, a portable stove, cooking pots and utensils, four sleeping bags, a small first aid kit and a pair of binoculars." He said and then looked at Gertrud.

"Are you hungry, do you want some water?" He asked. "No I'm fine." She replied. "Alright, well one of us should probably keep watch from the steeple and the other can get some rest while we wait for the storm to die down." Thomas said.

By now the storm outside had gotten quite noisy. "I can take the first watch while you rest you look tired- ""I'll take the first watch." Gertrud said interrupting Thomas. "Um, are you sure you look pretty tired." "I said I'll take it!" Gertrud said giving Thomas a stern look.

Thomas just nodded and reached into the backpack then tossed her the binoculars. "Do you want my coat? It's water proof but has some blood stains…" "No." Gertrud said as she began to walk to the catwalk and then up the spiral stairs, about halfway up she dismissed her familiar and shouldered her left MG-42, no point in wasting stamina.

Her mind moved to her companion, he seemed nice enough though she didn't trust him, for all she knew he would wait until she was asleep and steal her MG-42's or kill her, that was one of the reasons she decided to take the first watch, that and she had a lot to think about.

She arrived at the top of the steeple and sat down near the top of the stairs, it wasn't comfortable and the rain was only semi stopped by the steeple's roof but the height did provide a good view of the road entering Concord.

Concord…. This country… America, at first she didn't fully believe she was in another country, but that mural, the recording of the soldier's voice and the vertibird had convinced her… Not only that but that creature earlier and the dead men, they weren't fake… Then there was Thomas… He seemed to be taking it all in stride, his country destroyed everyone he knew long dead…

Either he was really unaffected or he was holding it in, which meant it would probably burst out at some point, she could've found someone much worse she knew, he seemed fairly bright too, with his help maybe she could find her way back to her own… What was it he called it dimension?

Her mind now drifted to her unit, the 501st and to her wingman Erica, how was she doing? And how was the rest of the wing? What if a major operation happened? She needed to be there to support her unit and her homeland… And yet for reasons she didn't know she was stuck here in this war ravaged god forsaken country. She really hoped she could get home soon.

Then something in the distance caught her attention, a light slowly moving up the road to Concord, she grabbed the binoculars Thomas had given her and held them up to her eyes, it was a group of men about six dressed in the same clothing and carrying the same weapons those they had found earlier had.

She needed to alert Thomas, she quickly ran down the stairs and across the catwalk and reentered the office, Thomas looked back at her while holding his backpack in his hands before setting it back down on the table.

"What is it?" He asked. "Six men, moving up the road heading for us." She said and then re summoned her familiar and headed for the spiral staircase with Thomas following after he slid his backpack back on and turned off the pipboy's light, he'd had it on since earlier, before long they were both crouched low at the top of the steeple which was fairly cramped, they were shoulder to shoulder.

Thomas was holding his 1911 while Gertrud had her two MG-42s in her hands. By now the men had moved closer and the light she'd seen earlier appeared to be from a lantern one was carrying.

"Do you think they're friendly?" Thomas quietly asked. "I don't know, but obviously they got into a big fight with someone." The six men had gotten even closer and the two began to hear their conversation.

"Well, Kalgurt looks like you were right, bastards killed each other off." One of them muttered. "Heh told you, now we get the pick of the loot and we don't have to listen to those assholes anymore." The one named Kalgurt replied. Another one soon began to speak.

"Heh remember that pretty caravan girl awhile back?" "Hell yeah I do, why'd you have to shoot her in the throat? She died before we could get our hands on her." "Bitch was going for her gun." One of them turned to the one named Kalgurt before asking a question.

"Hey Kalgurt, whatda we do if any of em are still breathin?" "What do you think we do? We kill em." At this point the six raiders were directly in front of the church, Thomas moved slightly and ended up kicking a small piece of wood off the steeple.

"Alright you three go search the museum and- "The piece of wood landed directly in front of the apparent leader of the group, he as well as the rest of the group looked up at the steeple. "Hey up there! We got some live ones!" One yelled going for the pistol hanging on his belt.

Gertrud however was faster leveling both her MG-42s and firing, the sound of both machine guns firing at once was deafening and the flash of their muzzles in the darkness was blinding, Thomas covered his ears and closed his eyes as the witch fired.

Once Gertrud's burst of fire was finished two of the six were dead with one missing an arm. "Get that bitch!" Kalgurt yelled and a moment later Gertrud was forced to duck down as return fire struck the steeple. A few seconds later when the fire died down she peaked up and fired a burst which caught one of the raiders out in the open, the powerful 7.92x57MM Mauser round it fired punched through his torso and then into the street behind it.

"God damn it!" Kalgurt yelled. "Burn those fuckers out!" The two other raiders drew out a pair of bottles and lit the rags on the end of them. Gertrud looked confused as to what they were doing however Thomas knew what they were, Molotov cocktails.

The men drew their arms back and hurled the makeshift fire bombs, Thomas wrapped both his arms around Gertrud's waist and yanked backwards causing both of them to go tumbling painfully down the spiral stair case, a second later the Molotov's struck the steeple igniting it.

Thomas groaned, the backpack had taken the brunt of the blows to his back during the tumbling, though his shoulders had taken a few hits too, and he was painfully aware of the added weight of the witch on his chest. Gertrud quickly crawled off Thomas while ignoring the pain from the tumble, she peered up at the steeple and could see the black smoke and a bit of the fire.

"We need to get out of here, they could burn the whole place down!" He said sounding scared as he stood up. "Let's go then!" The two sprinted across the catwalk while several bullets and another Molotov struck it igniting a part of the catwalk behind them.

They headed for the flight of stairs which would return them to the podium room only to find it engulfed in flames. "Were gonna burn you rats alive!" One of the raiders taunted from outside the room, however the American and Karlslander were already moving back to the catwalks.

The raiders had ignited the floor of the church and several pews, though a few places had yet to catch fire, though by now the area was beginning to fill with black smoke. "We need to get out of here!" Thomas said stating the obvious.

As far as Gertrud could see there was only one way down. "Jump over the catwalk and roll when you land." She said and a moment later vaulted over the catwalk and then rolled when she struck the ground. Thomas watched as she cut down a surprised raider with machinegun fire before diving under a pew to avoid return fire from the other two.

Thomas took careful aim trying to level his 1911 up on one of the raiders who was firing at the pew Gertrud was behind, his heart felt like it would burst out of his chest and his hands wouldn't stop shaking, he took a deep breath and exhaled as he squeezed the trigger.

With a crack that was in Thomas's opinion deafening the 1911 fired. "Fuck!" One of the raiders yelled dropping his pistol and grabbing his shoulder, which happened to now have a nicely sized hole in it. It may have been a pistol bullet but the 45. Caliber packed a punch.

The man to focused on the pain in his shoulder failed to notice the barrel of an MG-42 slid under the pew he had been firing at, a second later a burst of fire had sawed his left leg off, the second he hit the ground another burst went through his head. Kalgurt, seeing the other five of his group dead, fired as he ran to the exit.

Gertrud moved into a crouching position and fired a burst which Kalgurt barley avoided, then the MG-42's drum magazine clicked empty and he leveled his pistol at her. "Gotcha now bitch!" He yelled as he fired. Gertrud raised her left hand and summoned her shield, which easily blocked the pipe pistols 32. Caliber bullets.

"What the hell!" He yelled at the sight of the magic, he kept firing and before long he'd emptied his magazine. "W, What the fuck is this!?" He said taking one step backwards, a second later a crack rang out and his head jerked backwards, the wall behind it splattered with blood and bits of brain. Gertrud looked up at the catwalk in time to see Thomas open his right eye, he'd just scored a headshot.

Gertrud stayed low to the ground and covered her mouth with her jacket's sleeve, the smoke was very thick by now and the heat was almost unbearable. "Get down from there!" She yelled at Thomas as she crawled quickly toward the exit.

"Oh god this is gonna hurt!" Thomas yelled as he ran and leapt over the railing, he landed with a large amount of weight on his left foot and judging by the pain that flared up it his left foot was none too pleased by it.

He scrambled up and tried to run only to go face first into the ground due to the pain, he'd either sprained or broken it, he quickly hopped/limped out of the church barely avoiding being crushed by a falling beam of wood.

A misstep caused him to put weight on his left foot and the flare of pain caused him to go face first into the wet street, even out in the rain he could still feel the heat from the fire on his back, he could hear the crackling of the burning church and then the crack of thunder.

It felt odd, the cool sensation of the pouring rain and the burning heat of the inferno behind him. He clambered to his knees wincing as he moved his left foot, it was probably just a sprain but it hurt like hell.

He looked up to see Gertrud just finishing reloading her MG-42, he questioned to himself how much ammo the drums could carry, probably not a lot or at least for extended machine gun fire, he also found himself wondering if she had more than one barrel for the two guns.

She looked down at him. "Are you alright?" She said as she held out her left hand, she'd slung her left MG-42 around her shoulder. Thomas grabbed her hand and slowly stood up doing his best to not put any weight on his left foot.

"I didn't roll when I landed, I think I sprained my left ankle or something." He said. "Can you walk?" She asked. "I can, but it hurts like hell." Gertrud looked around. "We should leave and quickly, if the gunfire didn't attract attention then the fire will."

Before Thomas could say anything she moved closer to him and pulled his right arm around her shoulder. "Hop on your right foot, I'll help support your weight." She said. "Thank you." Thomas replied, and slowly the two moved down the road to Concord, behind them the church was completely engulfed in flames, the light of which could be seen for miles.

A few minutes later the two were near the red rocket truck stop when Thomas spoke. "Can we stop please? I'm tired, my ankle really hurts and I'm freezing! Let's just go into the truck stop, I don't care if there's something already in there!" Thomas said looking over at Gertrud's face.

Both of them were soaked, Gertrud more so since Thomas's coat was waterproof, his hair was soaked as was Gertrud's, her uniform was also soaked though thankfully her pale light blue bra, which matched her panties wasn't showing through the uniform.

She herself was tired and cold. "Alright she said." Thomas turned his pipboy's light on as the two moved into the truck stop, which soon proved to be abandoned thankfully.

On the outside it looked more or less like a regular gas station, though it had a literal red rocket attached to a tower that sat on a metal roof that covered the pumping area. They soon moved inside using a strange metal door that slid open into the wall, it somewhat reminded Gertrud of those paper sliding doors they used in Fuso.

They entered the building which was fairly messy and dusty, there were two windows that lacked glass, in front of them were small tables with old looking plates on them kind of like a counter, maybe it was where they passed out food if someone ordered some? A few feet behind those was a counter with a cash register, there were also shelves with tools and even a few tires in a corner.

They soon found two more rooms, one a small office that had an odd looking terminal, Thomas explained that it was like a bulky pipboy that obviously wasn't portable, the other room they found was a garage with a strange empty yellow device in it, the yellow device almost looked like it was meant to have something stored there, the garage looked like it could've held a car and probably did at one point.

Thomas hit a large red button causing the still working garage door to close, it would help keep out some of the rain though the glassless window counter thingys were allowing a lot to blow in. He slowly eased himself down on a wooden crate and then noticed a sliding door that led from the garage to the rest of the truck stop, he quickly slid it closed, the garage was pretty dry it would be best to keep it that way.

Thomas looked over at Gertrud who was looking around the garage. "Let's stay in here till the storm dies down." He said. "Sounds like a good idea." Gertrud replied. There was no point in staying out in the cold rain, for all they knew it could be dangerous or something.

Thomas holstered his 1911 and slid his backpack off his back and sat it down in front of him. He reached into his coat pocket and drew out a stimpak, he undid the laces then slid his left boot off and then raised his left leg and rested it across his right, he then slowly pushed the needle of the stimpak into his ankle and hit the button causing the gage to drop toward zero, once it had he removed it and tossed the empty stimpak into a corner.

"That, may or may not help." He said as he put the boot back on and retied the laces. "Why didn't you do it before?" Gertrud questioned looking at him. "It slipped my mind." He said sheepishly. Gertrud only shook her head. "I see Liberians and…" She trailed off staring expectantly at Thomas. "Oh I'd be considered an American." He said catching the gist of what she meant.

Gertrud only nodded, she dismissed her familiar and then leaned her two MG-42's against the wall then placed their ammo drums harness next to them, then she began to unbutton her coat, much to Thomas's surprise. "What are you doing?" He asked. "Getting out of my wet clothes." She replied as she finished the last button and slid her jacket off and then hung it from the odd yellow device that sat in the garage.

A moment later she slid her boots off, then her pants, and next the white undershirt, at that point she was just in her bra, socks and panties, she then took the black ribbons out of her hair and let her wet hair down. Thomas at this point had taken to covering his eyes with his hands.

"You can look, just don't stare." The witch said and slowly Thomas un covered his eyes. She just stood there with her arms crossed. "It wouldn't be good if I stayed in wet clothes, so I'll let them dry while we wait." Thomas just nodded and did his best to ignore the hot feeling on his cheeks.

He decided he should probably distract himself from the attractive half naked woman in the room and quickly began to go through the backpack, then he found something he missed before, a black blanket. He quickly drew it out. "Hey I found a blanket, here." He said as he tossed it to her.

She caught it and quickly wrapped herself in it, she then grabbed a nearby crate and sat it next to Thomas and then took a seat on it. For a moment there was just awkward silence well aside from the rain, but Gertrud soon broke it.

"You mentioned you had a brother earlier, in the military? What was he like?" She asked. Thomas just looked at her. "Why do you ask?" He questioned. "Just trying to break the silence." Thomas nodded.

"He was…. Nice, very caring and always looking out for me, he always helped me with things too, he was often busy but always made time to help me…. He was a pilot in the military, like I said earlier he flew vertibirds." Thomas sighed for a moment then continued.

"He wanted to follow in our father's footsteps and joined the military, you should've seen the look on our dads face, he never looked so proud. My brother always thought flight was amazing, I kind of do too, but he wanted to be a pilot and applied and after about a year learned to fly, he was good at it too I was told."

"My mother was so scared he'd get sent overseas, but my father always told her he was in the national guard so he wouldn't, he really loved the military, all the rules and regulations and such sat well with him, he tried to get me to join several times too." Thomas said with a chuckle.

"And why didn't you? Your country was at war it probably could've used you." Gertrud said. Thomas slid his coat off and rested it on a nearby barrel. "I was scared, besides I wanted to get into robotics, oh um robotics are like machines that can think for themselves." Thomas said.

"Think for themselves?" Gertrud asked. "Well to an extent, we had some for domestic use and some for civil use and some for military, I wanted to work for one of the big companies that built them, but I guess that's just gone now…" Thomas mumbled.

He reached for his backpack and a moment later pulled out the portable stove and a small cooking pot, he grabbed a can of water and used a can opener to open it and poured about half of it into the bowl, he then sat two MREs into the water and turned the stove on.

"Those should be ready to eat in a few minutes, good thing the backpack was waterproof too." Thomas said. "Are they ration packs?" Gertrud asked. "They're MREs or meals ready to eat, they're standard issue American military rations or something like that, these are surplus I think, I hope pork and beans are fine."

"That's fine." Gertrud said. Thomas looked over at her, his face colored red from the pipboy's light. "So do you have any siblings?" Gertrud seemed to stop and think for a moment before looking back up at him.

"I have a sister." She said. "Oh?" Thomas said more or less asking for more information without actually asking. "Her name is Christiane Barkhorn. I'd rather not talk about her much right now if that's alright." "That's fine." Thomas replied.

The two just sat there for a bit with the only noise being the rain outside though the truck stop soon began to fill with the smell of the pork and bean MREs, Thomas reached into the backpack and drew out another bowl and then used a pair of tongs he also grabbed from the backpack to put the two cooked MREs into it, he then turned the stove off.

"We just need to let them cool for a bit so we don't burn ourselves." He said, and again for a bit aside from the pouring rain it was quiet. "So… How old are you?" Thomas asked both out of curiosity and a dislike for the silence which just made things awkward.

"I'm 19 I was born in March 20 1926." Gertrud said. "Really!?" Thomas said looking at her oddly excited. "I was born in March 19 2058! Same month and only a day apart, so which one of us is the older one?" Thomas said with a smile.

Gertrud smiled as well. "I have no idea." She said. It would be tough to decide who was older, Thomas who was born a day before Gertrud, or Gertrud who was born several hundred years before Thomas, then again did it really count with the whole different dimension thing?"

A grin suddenly formed on Thomas's face. "Maybe I should start calling you grandma Gertrud." Gertrud raised an eyebrow at him. "Is this coming from the man who was frozen for a hundred or two hundred years?"

Thomas made a shocked face and then quickly smiled. "Your right! I should act my age." He took a moment to clear his throat and then did his best impression of an old man.

"When I was a boy we didn't have any of this apocalypse stuff and gangs or gunmen, why all we had to worry about was communist spies and kids on our lawns!" To top it off he began to shake his fist. Gertrud let out a small chuckle causing Thomas to smile.

"I think I prefer you acting as your usual self she said." "Your wish is my command witch, so please don't turn me into a toad." That comment earned him a weak punch to the shoulder. "Heh." He said as he rubbed his shoulder and then reached forward to the backpack and drew out two spoons.

"They should've cooled by now." He said as he handed Gertrud one of the MREs and a spoon. "Thank you." She said. After opening the meals ready to eat the two, well ate. Once they had finished and used the left over water to clean the spoons and wash the beans down then they placed the empty MREs into an empty bucket they found.

"That didn't taste half as bad as I expected it to." Thomas said and got a nod from Gertrud as a reply. "They tasted better than the standard Karlsland rations."

"To bad we can't do anything about how cold it is." Thomas said rubbing his hands over his arms, he may've been in a green long sleeved shirt but it was still cold. He checked the time on the pipboy. "It says it's now October 26 1:24 Am." "We should probably get some rest then." Gertrud said. "I think it's too cold to fall asleep, or at least I am." He said.

Gertrud looked at him. "How cold are you?" "Well cold enough to be uncomfortable and probably complain about it." He said with a grin. "Aren't you even colder?" He asked. "I am." She said, and for a moment they just sat there in silence.

"Scoot over." Gertrud said and Thomas did so and a second later she sat down on his crate right next to him. "Why switch crates?" He asked. "So we can share body heat." Gertrud replied then opened the blanket and wrapped the two of them around it, though not before pulling Thomas closer to the point of their shoulders touching.

"Don't think of this as being well intimate, it's just a way to stay warm, also if you try anything I'll make you regret it." The witch said in a not joking tone of voice.

"Why dear lady what kind of a gentleman do you think I am?" Thomas said with a stuffy tone in mock offense. "Hush and try to get some rest." She said. "Yes mother- Ow!" He said having received an elbow to the ribs for the comment.

A couple of minutes later and Thomas was asleep with his head resting on Gertrud's shoulder, she herself was tried but someone had to stay awake and keep watch. Still… Her eyes kept closing slowly, if she could've she would have stood up and walked around but she didn't wish to wake Thomas.

Eventually she to dozed off, not even the most well trained and disciplined of Karlsland soldiers could fight off sleep, and for hours the two slept under the blanket while outside a storm began to slowly die down.

Gertrud opened her eyes and stretched her arms with a slight yawn, which in turn woke her companion. Thomas groaned and yawned before looking around. "Looks like its morning." He said looking at the small rays of sunlight peeking through the cracks in the wall. "Good morning Gertrud."

When he got no reply he looked over at her, she was staring at her feet. "What is it?" He asked. "I fell asleep on watch." She muttered. "They trained us to never do that yet I did." She said in a slightly angry tone.

"You're a human first and a soldier second, and everyone has their limits, it was cold and wet, you were tired and exhausted, we'd been in a gun fight and who knows what you went through before coming here, besides for all we know whatever dimension thing that did happen could've taken a toll on your body." He said and then continued speaking.

"Besides were both okay, and the pipboy has a motion tracker so it could've alerted us, don't be so hard on yourself." He said, and then hugged her under the blankets.

"What are you doing?" She questioned. "Hugging you." He replied. "I'm aware of that but why?" Thomas shrugged under the blankets. "You're warm and I do tend to show affection to people I like." He said.

"I wasn't aware we'd bonded so closely." She said giving Thomas a questioning look. "Well we slept and snuggled together under the same blanket, and I've never done that with anyone, besides we were in a gun fight together and you seem like a nice person, so I trust you." He said.

"I hope you understand that I don't return the feeling of trust." She said, well not fully she thought to herself as she stood up and began to put on her now dry clothes. "That's fine, my brother always said I was too trusting, but that's just who I am, and you are who you are. Doesn't change the fact that I do trust you."

Gertrud slid her drum harness back on then shouldered her two MG-42's before looking at Thomas. "Are you ready to go? I figured we'd head back to the place we met. Thomas stood up and put his coat back on and then his backpack.

A moment the later the two headed out the door, and into ultra-thick fog. "Damn…" Thomas said he could've even see through the fog, he took a look at his pipboy and read the time aloud. "Its 10:05 am. Should we hold hands?" He asked as he peered into the fog.

"I think we can manage without that." Gertrud replied and began walking toward Sanctuary hills. "Fine, but if I get lost I'm blaming you." Thomas said. Gertrud only rolled her eyes with a slight smile. "God forbid." She muttered.

They two continued to walk until Thomas suddenly stopped causing Gertrud to turn around only when his footsteps ceased. She couldn't even see him through the ultra-thick fog. "What is it?" She asked through the fog assuming he was there. Her assumption proved to be right as a second later he answered.

"So, um don't be mad but I just remembered that there were sleeping bags in the backpack." Thomas said suddenly taking an interest in his boots, though not that Gertrud could see it. There was silence for a few moments before a sigh. "You're a forgetful person aren't you Glasswell?" Gertrud said sounded irritated but not in a very serious way.

"My brother says I am, still if it helps I tend to remember the most useless details about un important things. Also, why'd you call me by my last name…. Almost no one does that… It sounds weird…" Thomas mumbled.

"I'm a soldier, I'm used to calling people by rank and last name, since you don't have rank I'll use your last name. Also I would prefer if you just called be Barkhorn." "Hmmm." Thomas said as he stepped through the fog while stroking his chin.

"I could do that, yes quite, or, stay with me here, I could call you Gertrud which is what I'm going to do. So please just call me Thomas." Gertrud narrowed her eyes at Thomas. "Barkhorn." She said more of a command than a statement. "Gertrud." "Barkhorn." She said slightly louder while taking a step toward him.

"Gertrud." Thomas said with a small smile. "Barkhorn!" Gertrud all but snapped then took a deep breath slightly irritated at herself for losing her cool, she slowly massaged her forehead with her finger tips before speaking again.

"I can just tell you won't be easy to get along with." With that she continued walking, causing Thomas to chase after her. "Aw don't say that! Come on I'll grow on you!" He said as he fell into step next to her.

The two walked quietly for the rest of the tip to Sanctuary, Gertrud because she didn't have anything to say and Thomas out of fear that something would lunge out of the fog, grab him, then drag him away.

It wasn't long before they made their way past Sanctuary's bridge, after a few moments of moving past the first house it happened, they were jumped. Three men ran out leveling weapons at them, the first two had the same pipe guns the raider had they also seemed to be wearing assorted rugged looking clothes, the third however…

He had some form of modified laser rifle judging by its red glow, he also had a cowboy like hat and was wearing some kind of coat. Gertrud had already leveled her MG-42's at the men and summoned her familiar which seemed to surprise them more than the two machine guns, Thomas had drawn his 1911 and was holding it in a two handed grip with his right eye closed and the sights directly on the man in the cowboy hats chest.

Thomas heard movement behind him and turned around, Gertrud however didn't, she either didn't hear or didn't want to show her back to her enemy. "Ah… Um… Gertrud…. We're out gunned…" Hearing Thomas's defeated tone of voice she turned around and was stunned by what she saw.

Another three men, while the other two had pipe weapons and more rugged looking clothing it was the one in the middle that stunned her. He was dressed in full power armor making him look huge, he was carrying a large mini gun as well. "Drop your weapons and put your hands in the air- Wait? Is that? Thomas?" The man in the power armor said his voice muffled by the armor's helmets filter.

"Who're you? How do you know my name?" Thomas said aiming his 1911 at the man, he may as well have thrown rocks but still it was something, a second later he felt Gertrud's back press against his, she had returned to aiming at the other two men and was leaving Thomas to cover her back, either she really trusted him or didn't know the threat the man in the power armor was, or she was just trying to prevent them from being shot in the back.

"Guys! Lower your weapons." The man in the armor said while lowering his mini gun, for a moment no one moved then the man in the hat lowered his laser musket. "Alright general." The other men soon followed lowering their weapons.

Slowly Thomas lowered his 1911 and then watched as the power armor opened up behind and a man stepped out, he was wearing what looked like green military fatigues under some kind of combat armor, it was his face however which surprised Thomas the most.

"Mr. Trinity!" Thomas said in a tone that sounded both surprised but excited. Thomas peaked over his shoulder at Gertrud, who had lowered her MG-42's slightly but looked ready to take aim at any moment. "Hey, it's okay, he was a friend of my fathers." Thomas said.

Gertrud slowly lowered her machine guns, still looking slightly suspicious though she didn't dismiss her familiar. "Mr. trinity I've got a lot of questions." The man smiled. "Yeah I do too and.- "Before he could finish speaking an old bulb on one of the street lamps next to them exploded followed by the cracks of gunshots.

Then someone yelled. "Raider attack!"

* * *

 **Well here is chapter 1. Sorry it took so long I had to check out a few things and I was also just being lazy. Maybe the length of it will make up for that? This one is bigger than my usual chapters in my opinion.**

 **I hope I got Gertrud's personality right. Well thanks for reading guys feel free to let me know what you think.**


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